


Grace Williams, Girl Genius

by LeeLooDallasMultiPass



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2012-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-07 10:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeLooDallasMultiPass/pseuds/LeeLooDallasMultiPass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gracie has it all figured out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grace Williams, Girl Genius

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyLilleigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLilleigh/gifts).



> Okay, trying a totally G-rated story this time. I love Gracie and this idea kept pulling at my pigtails until I let it out to play!

 

“Alright, Monkey.  Time for bed.  Run upstairs and get into your pajamas.  And don’t forget to brush your teeth.”

“Okay, Daddy!”  Grace gave him a big smile as she jumped up from her spot on the couch between Danny and Steve and ran up the stairs, clearly excited about her sleepover.

Danny watched her go, with a smile of his own that lit up his whole face.  He turned to Steve, who was ejecting the DVD from the player.  “Thanks for this.  You’ve made my daughter a very happy little girl.”

Steve looked up with a slightly surprised expression on his face.  “Of course, Danny.  What, I was going say no when Grace asked to stay here this weekend?  Besides,” he smirked, “anything to keep her out of whatever shithole-of-the-week you’re staying in now.”

“Language, Steven!  Watch your mouth around my baby girl!”

“Danny, she’s not even in the room.”  He glanced up to the second floor landing to be sure she wasn’t there.  “She can’t hear us from upstairs.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re so very, very wrong, Steven.  Little ears hear everything!”  Danny waved his arms as if to encompass the whole house.  “Especially the things you don’t want them to.  Trust me,” he grimaced, “Rachel and I learned that the hard way during the divorce.”

“Hey, I’m sorry, Danny.  I’ll be more careful.”  He frowned, worried he might have put a damper on Danny’s cheerful mood.

“That’s okay.  Anyway, you’re right,” Danny grinned ruefully.  “My new place _is_ kind of a hole.”

Steve grinned back.  “Well, you’re welcome to stay here anytime.  You know I love spending time with Gracie.  It’s kinda fun doing kids’ stuff with her.”

“Still,” Danny indicated the DVD in Steve’s hand, “sitting through hours of animated, singing princesses was above and beyond, babe.”

Chuckling as he placed the movie on the coffee table, Steve opened his mouth to respond, but a small voice called both men’s attention to the second floor.

“Danno, can Uncle Steve read to me tonight?”  Grace stood at the top of the stairs, wearing Hello Kitty pajamas and hopeful puppy-dog eyes.

Danny regarded Steve with raised eyebrows.  “You up for that, babe?”

“I think I can handle that, yeah.”  The tender look on Steve’s face made Danny’s stomach flutter and he quickly turned back to his daughter.

“Sure, Monkey.  You two go ahead and I’ll be up in a little while to kiss you goodnight.”  He watched as Steve took the stairs two at a time, taking Grace’s proffered hand as she beamed up at him and led him away into Mary’s old room.

As Danny moved back to the couch and began tidying up, he knew he was grinning like an idiot but he couldn’t stop himself.  He was thrilled that Gracie seemed to love Steve just as much as he did.

He stopped dead and gave himself a mental shake.  Thoughts like that could only lead to heartache.  Steve showed no signs of returning his affection in anything other than a friends-and-partners kind of way.  Best not to even think about the “L” word.

Picking up the DVD that Steve had left on the table, Danny went to put it in Grace’s backpack.  He noticed the book he’d been reading to her was still in there and pulled it out.  “Can’t have a bedtime story without the book,” he announced to the empty room, and turned to go upstairs.

*

Steve sat on the edge of the bed while Grace settled herself under the covers. “So, what do you want me to read to you?” he asked, looking around for her book.

“I don’t really want you to read me a story, Uncle Steve.  I wanted to talk to you in private.”  She leaned forward, conspiratorially.

“Oh, okay.”  Steve’s lips twitched at the very grown-up sounding words but he valiantly kept a straight face.  “That sounds very serious.  What do you want to talk to me about?”

“I love you, Uncle Steve.  You know that, don’t you?”

“Absolutely, I do.”  He smiled warmly.  “And you know I love you, too, right?”

“I know.  I was just wondering...,” she stared down at her hands for a moment before meeting Steve’s gaze again.  “Do you love Danno?”

Steve hesitated for a fraction of a second.  “He’s my best friend, Gracie.”

“Yeah, but do you love him?” she repeated earnestly.

Steve reminded himself that it was just an innocent, childish question, not an inquisition, and answered honestly.  “Of course I do.”

“Good, ‘cause he loves you, too.”  Grace smiled brightly.

“Well, I’m glad.”  Steve turned away as a small creak out in the hallway caught his attention.  He glanced towards the open doorway but no one was there.

“So, how come you never kiss him?”

“ _What_?”  His head snapped back to Gracie so fast, it was a miracle he didn’t give himself whiplash.

The little girl regarded him with solemn brown eyes.  “If you love each other, how come you never kiss or hold hands or anything?”

“Grace, honey,” he shifted uncomfortably, “there are different kinds of love.  Your daddy and I love each other like friends or family, like _Ohana_.  Kissing is for boyfriends or girlfriends or people who are married.  That kind is called _in love_.”  He wasn’t about to complicate matters by trying to explain unrequited love.

She cocked her head at him and raised one eyebrow.  “Uncle Steve, I’m 10, not stupid.  I know there’s a difference.  When I was little, Mommy and Daddy were the kissing kind of love.  But now they’re just the friends kind and Mommy kisses Stan.”  She threw her hands up in a helpless gesture.  “Danno should get kisses, too!”

“Oh, sweetie, you’re absolutely right.  Danno deserves kisses.”  He sighed.  “But he doesn’t want kisses from me.  He likes kissing girls.  Like Gabby.  You know Gabby.  You like her, don’t you?”

“Gabby’s nice but he doesn’t love her.  He loves you.”

“But not the kissing kind,” Steve explained patiently.  “He’s not _in love_ with me.”

“Yes, he is!”

“Gracie—”

“No, Uncle Steve, you’re not listening!”  Grace smacked her little fists down on the blanket in frustration.  “I know he is because he looks at you the same way he used to look at Mommy!  But only when he thinks nobody’s looking.  And that’s why he doesn’t see that you look at him the same way, too!”

Steve caught his breath, stunned.

“You forget I’m there, sometimes,” she said, more quietly.  “You both do.  That’s why I see it and you don’t.  But now you know.  So, you should kiss Danno!”

“It’s not that simple, Gracie.”

“Yes, it is.  Don’t you want to kiss him?”  She didn’t wait for an answer.  “You do, don’t you?”

“Well, Steve?  Do you?”

Steve jerked his head up, startled that he hadn’t noticed Danny’s approach.  His partner was looking down at him, one hand holding Grace’s book and the other resting tentatively on Steve’s shoulder.  He searched Danny’s face and his heart swelled at the naked emotion he saw there.

“Danny...”  He stood and reached a hand towards him before stopping in mid-motion and looking uncertainly down at the little girl watching them.

“Oh, come here, you goof!”  Danny’s hand came up and cupped Steve’s cheek, bringing him down for a sweet, chaste kiss.  “Now, say goodnight and go wait for me downstairs.”

With a big, goofy grin, Steve bid Gracie a good night, and left Danny alone with his daughter.

“You, Monkey, are really smart,” he told her, sitting beside her.  “Smarter than me and Uncle Steve, both.”

“I know, Daddy.”  She smiled joyfully up at him and giggled.

“Oh, you do, do you?”  He leaned in and tickled her until she squealed, then gave her a big hug and goodnight kiss.  “Time to sleep, now.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

He walked to the door and paused with his hand on the light switch.  “One question though, Gracie.  Why’d you talk to Uncle Steve instead of me?”

“Because you worry about everything, Danno, and you would just keep thinking and thinking and not do anything.  But Uncle Steve isn’t afraid of anything and you always say he does stuff without thinking first.”

Danny chuckled softly and shook his head.  “You are going to rule the world, one day, you know that?  And when you do, just remember one thing... Danno loves you.”

 

 

*


End file.
